Key Takeaways
Many insurance shoppers reach out by phone, so responsible phone service is essential.
- Softening rates make operational execution more important than premium growth.
- Every inbound call is a potential sales, retention or cross-sell opportunity.
- Fast, convenient communication helps agencies capture more business.
- Multilingual service expands market reach and improves accessibility.
- Insurance-native AI helps agencies grow without adding proportional headcount.
For many insurance agencies, the return of a softer property and casualty market is a mixed blessing. Increased capacity and moderating rates are welcome after several difficult years, but lower premiums also mean slower organic revenue growth.
Agencies can't rely on rate increases to grow the business anymore. Winning market share, improving retention and increasing revenue per customer have become more important than ever. That means making the most of every customer interaction.
The agencies that grow in the next phase of the market won't simply quote faster. They'll answer every call, make it easy for customers to do business and build stronger relationships through exceptional service.
The Opportunity is Real. So Is the Competition.
According to IBISWorld¹, more than 435,000 insurance brokers and agencies operate in the United States.
Independent agencies continue to play a significant role in the market. According to the Big "I" 2026 Market Share Report², independent agencies place 62% of all property and casualty insurance written in the United States, up from 61.5% in 2024. They account for 39.5% of personal lines premium and 87.7% of commercial lines premium.
Consumers also have a new mindset.
Several years of premium increases conditioned many policyholders to shop their insurance more frequently. According to LexisNexis³, shopping activity surged during the hard market and, while it has moderated, demand remains elevated.
That creates a meaningful opportunity. As premium growth slows, agencies that capture a greater share of shoppers, retain more customers and deepen existing relationships will outperform agencies that rely on market conditions alone.
Five Ways Agencies Can Stand Out
If agencies can't rely on premium inflation to drive revenue, every customer interaction becomes more valuable. Every inbound call, renewal conversation and service request is an opportunity to win new business, improve retention or uncover additional coverage needs.
Here are five ways agencies can differentiate themselves.
1. Answer Every Call
When insurance shoppers are ready to buy, many still pick up the phone.
McKinsey & Company⁴ found that consumer preferences are evenly split for routine service interactions, with roughly half preferring phone conversations and half preferring digital channels. However, when questions become more complex, about 70% of consumers prefer speaking with a person.
In a softening market, agencies can't afford to lose qualified prospects because no one answered the phone. Every missed call is a missed opportunity to write new business, strengthen a customer relationship or identify additional coverage needs.
2. Offer Multiple Ways to Connect
Phone conversations remain important, but they're only one part of the customer experience.
According to YouGov⁶, consumers also prefer channels such as email, live chat and online forms, depending on the situation and their personal preferences.
Making it easier for prospects to contact your agency expands the top of the sales funnel. More ways to engage means fewer opportunities lost because customers couldn't connect through their preferred channel.
If one agency offers phone, email, chat and online forms while another only offers a phone number, some prospects will eliminate the second agency before ever making contact.
3. Respond Immediately
Insurance shoppers rarely wait. The first agency to answer the phone or respond to an inquiry often earns the first conversation. In many cases, that determines who earns the policy.
The broader customer service industry has recognized this shift. According to the 2025 Talkdesk KPI Benchmarking Report⁷, average hold times have fallen 23% and now average just 13 seconds. Insurance buyers increasingly expect that same level of responsiveness.
4. Expand Your Reach with Multilingual Service
Language shouldn't determine whether someone can do business with your agency.
According to Start.io⁸, English and Spanish are the two most commonly spoken languages in the United States, but many communities also speak Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Persian and French.
Multilingual service isn't just about customer experience. It's about market reach. Agencies that remove language barriers can compete for business that other agencies unintentionally leave behind while better serving the communities around them.
5. Make Every Interaction Personal
Insurance is personal. Customers aren't looking for generic product recommendations. They're looking for guidance based on their individual needs.
Research from McKinsey & Company9 shows that:
- 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions.
- 76% of consumers get frustrated when they don’t receive personalized experiences.
Personalization also creates better cross-selling opportunities. The more an agency understands a customer's household or business, the easier it becomes to identify coverage gaps and recommend additional protection.
The agencies that know their customers best will be best positioned to earn more of their business.
Can AI Agents Help Your Agency Grow?
Meeting these expectations consistently is difficult through staffing alone.
Historically, agencies had to choose between hiring more people or accepting service limitations. Insurance-native AI changes that equation by extending the capabilities of producers, CSRs and account managers rather than replacing them.
AI helps agencies capture more revenue by:
- Answering every inbound call immediately. Never lose a sales opportunity because no one was available.
- Capturing leads after hours. Insurance shoppers don't stop researching when the office closes.
- Supporting multilingual customer interactions. Expand your reach without adding multilingual staff.
- Helping identify cross-sell opportunities. Surface customer information that supports more relevant conversations.
- Automating routine requests. Free licensed staff to spend more time selling, advising customers and building relationships.
Many agencies recognize the opportunity. According to the ACT Tech Trends Report 2026¹⁰, 68% of agencies plan to increase their use of AI over the next 12 months. Yet only 8.29% report using AI regularly and strategically today.
That gap creates a competitive advantage for agencies willing to move now.
In a softening market, growth depends less on rising premiums and more on execution. Agencies that consistently answer every call, respond quickly and create opportunities to strengthen customer relationships will outperform those that don't. Insurance-native AI gives agencies the ability to do that at scale, helping producers and CSRs spend more time generating revenue instead of managing routine work. Best of all, implementation takes weeks, not months.
Download our white paper to learn more about how insurance agencies can use voice AI to capture market share and scale profitability. Find out why AI is a new operating model for profitable growth.
Sources:
- https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/number-of-businesses/insurance-brokers-agencies/1331/
- https://www.iamagazine.com/news/big-i-releases-2026-market-share-report/
- https://risk.lexisnexis.com/about-us/press-room/press-release/20260512-q2-demand-meter
- https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/insurance/elevating-customer-experience-a-win-win-for-insurers-and-customers
- https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/51802-how-americans-prefer-to-contact-businesses-for-customer-service
- https://www.talkdesk.com/resources/reports/talkdesk-contact-center-kpi-benchmarking-report/
- https://www.start.io/blog/new-study-the-most-popular-languages-in-the-united-states-other-than-english-and-spanish/
- https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-value-of-getting-personalization-right-or-wrong-is-multiplying
- https://www.independentagent.com/technology-trends-report/
